Kansas City’s Boulevard Brewing Company is back in black in 2020.
The launch of Quirk Spiked & Sparkling hard seltzer, as well as the addition of 16 oz. can 4-packs of Tank 7, a strong sophomore year for Space Camper IPA and a resurgence of Unfiltered Wheat in off-premise retailers as consumers stocked their fridges during the pandemic, have helped return the craft beer brand to growth.
“We will finish this year with Boulevard in the black, growing despite all these challenges, despite the on-premise development that the brand has,” Duvel USA VP of sales Bobby Dykstra. “Our import brands are going to grow in 2020. And while [Brewery] Ommegang won’t won’t finish in the black this year, we have seen some amazing growth from the Neon family of brands and they are going to be the anchor for us moving forward.”
Looking to build off 2020’s gains, Duvel USA revealed plans for Boulevard Brewing Company at its national sales summit last week.
Duvel USA VP of sales Bobby Dykstra called 2020 a year of “prioritization and limiting distractions.” In 2021, he said the company will capitalize on consumers flocking to familiar brands.
“You will see us spend the lion’s share of our resources on those tenured brands, and you will see us spend our time developing programs against those brands and the innovation against those priorities,” he said. “What you won’t see us doing is distracting you with more limited releases [or] more seasonals than the prior year. In fact, we’re limiting our SKUs. We’re reserving all of our efforts for those big bets for 2021.”
Backing up those plans, Duvel USA VP of marketing Natalie Gershon introduced the “Buzz Budget,” which will leverage targeted digital advertising on popular social platforms to reach consumers by age, gender, economic status, education, location, and employment.
“Think of it as a billboard in your pocket,” she said.
Here are highlights of the company’s plans for the Boulevard beer brand in 2021. (Read about plans for Boulevard Beverage Company here, and look for coverage of Brewery Ommegang and the company’s import brands in the coming days.)
Tank 7 Cans Prove Incremental
Tank 7 cans made up 43% of the company’s depletions this year, Boulevard brand manager Adam Hall told wholesalers. He added that the company’s sales team was able to get Tank 7 cans in 50% of the points of distribution of Tank 7 bottles, and they want to close that gap and achieve 80% of Tank 7 bottle distribution in 2021.
“That’s priority No. 1 in chains,” Duvel USA director of national accounts Blythe Lee added.
Dykstra called 2020 Tank 7’s best year since its launch due to the addition of cans, which proved to be incremental, as bottle sales stayed flat.
Next year, the Boulevard team will work to link Tank 7 to burger purchases in off- and on-premise retailers, Hall said. He added that the company has had discussions with regional and national beef councils and retailers to localize promotions in markets, tying Tank 7 to local beef in Midwestern states such as Missouri, Kansas and Nebraska.
“We want people to buy Tank 7, take their beef, grill it outdoors,” Hall said.
Boulevard to Introduce Unfiltered Wheat 100 in 2021
Among the big news items coming out of the meeting was a tease for a line extension of Unfiltered Wheat, a 100-calorie version of the beer called Unfiltered Wheat 100, which will be sold in 6-pack cans.
“Unfiltered Wheat 100 is just going to be a lighter version of the classic Unfiltered Wheat that our fans love, just a little bit lighter, a little bit zippier and just a touch of citrus,” Hall said.
“That could be a powerhouse brand given the health and wellness trends that we’ve seen,” Lee added. “There’s no reason that that can’t translate into the beer segment. And frankly, Unfiltered Wheat has the brand equity to make that work.”
Gershon told Brewbound that Unfiltered Wheat trends benefitted from consumers returning to “trusted brands” and larger pack sizes during pandemic, as well as a brand refresh. Still, those positive trends weren’t enough to offset the loss of on-premise sales.
In the off-premise channel year-to-date through Labor Day, Wheat dollar sales are up 12%. However, the brand is down double digits due to the loss of on-premise sales, with the brand holding the majority of the company’s draft handles across the Midwest, including in major sporting venues, such as Kauffman Stadium.
Hall told the company’s wholesalers that the introduction of Unfiltered Wheat brand extensions — Grapefruit and Kiwi — in a variety 12-pack left retailers asking for more. And they’re going to give them more in 2021.
A spring variety 12-pack will feature four varieties of Unfiltered Wheat, including the original, Kiwi, Grapefruit and Amarillo Dry Hopped Wheat. That pack will be available through June, which will be followed up by a second variety pack. Those packs will be another big ask in chains in 2021, Lee said.
The company will also bring back the Unfiltration Manager ad campaign to push “Unfiltered Friday.” And to drive on-premise purchases, the company will offer a rebate in which consumers who buy two Wheats will get $4 off an appetizer.
Space Camper Year 3
The ask from wholesalers in Space Camper IPA’s third year is to help build the franchise by gaining distribution for its 6-pack rotator. Dykstra said the goal is to reach 275,000 cases in 2021.
“Not only can we build out that franchise with the secondary rotator series, but we can leverage that to get new distribution on Space Camper 6-packs,” Lee added.
In January, Space Camper Giga Hop will launch. Hall described the beer as “a dual hemisphere IPA, made with hops from the northern hemisphere and southern hemisphere.” Throughout the year, the company will bring back Lotus Aura and Star Haze line extensions, as well as launch a session IPA and an imperial IPA.
Space Camper increased its off-premise sales 43% this year, growing through “velocity and execution,” Dykstra said.
As part of the 2021 push for Space Camper, Duvel is launching the 7% campaign, donating 7% of the beer’s profits across the nation.
Smokestack Series, Collaborations and More
- Boulevard is brewing a beer for the Negro League Baseball Museum called Tip Your Cap, which will be released in the spring.
- Berry Noir sour ale will become a year-round offering.
- The company is shaking up the Sour Series in 2021, with new releases Tiki Slam (a passionfruit, orange, guava sour) in the summer and the return of Hibiscus Gose in the fall.
- In the Smokestack Series, the popular Chocolate Ale will return in 4-packs of 12 oz. bottles in time for Valentine’s Day. Bramble On, a foeder-aged sour with blackberries will release in the spring. Those releases will be followed by the return of Rye on Rye; Stuff of Legend, a barrel-aged imperial stout made with cookies; Magic Drip wheated imperial stout with Colombian coffee; and Sugarwood Baklava imperial brown ale made with maple and pecans.
- Boulevard is partnering with non-alcoholic beer maker Athletic Brewing on Flying Start, the company’s first entry into the non-alc beer space. Hall said the company’s one ask is that the beer is placed in the non-alc beer section.
- Boulevard will partner with Pinthouse Pizza in Austin on Hawaiian Pizza Party Tiki IPA.
- Other collabs include Bell’s Brewery and Georgetown.